Canon EOS 40D Performance

Timing and Performance

Time it takes for camera to turn on. (Very fast; difficult to measure.)

Shutdown

0.3 second

How long it takes to turn off. (Very fast; difficult to measure.)

Buffer clearing time
Large Fine JPEG

10 seconds(after 20 LF JPEGs)

Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't shut down until the buffer is cleared.

Buffer clearing time
Small Normal JPEG

65 seconds
(after 100 SN JPEGs)

Buffer clearing time
RAW

14 seconds(after 20 RAW frames)

Buffer clearing time
RAWLive View Mode

24 seconds
(after 20 RAW frames)

Startup and shut-down times are quite fast: Not quite as fast as some, but the difference will really be academic. (The difference between 0.3 and 0.4 second really isn't likely to make the difference between a winning image and a lost shot.) Buffer clearing time depends on the image size and quality, burst length and how fast the card can be written to, to the flush the buffer. Live View mode increases RAW buffer clearing time significantly, but has very little impact on cycle times (see below).

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 1.

Full Autofocus
Live ViewSilent Mode 2

0.168 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 2.

Full Autofocus
Live ViewSilent Mode Disabled

0.283 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode disabled.

Prefocused

0.061 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Continuous AF

0.153 second

This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.

Manual focus

0.078 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

The Canon 40D's AF performance is quite fast, a significant improvement over the 30D in most respects. Full autofocus lag is almost twice as fast at 0.128s vs the 30D's 0.245s, though prefocused, lag is just slightly faster (0.061s vs 0.068s). Continuous AF mode shutter lag is a bit longer though, at 0.153s vs the 30D's 0.105s, but shutter lag when manually focusing has been cut in half at 0.078s vs 0.154s. We were pleasantly surprised that the Live View modes add minimal shutter delay; not nearly as much as we're accustomed to seeing.

Cycle time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large Fine JPEG

0.28 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Single Shot mode
Small Normal JPEG

0.20 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Single Shot mode
RAW

0.23 second

Time per shot, averaged over 14 shots.

Early shutter
penalty?

No

Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Cycle times for large/fine JPEGs are similar to the 30D, but have improved when shooting RAW, to 0.23s for 14 frames vs 0.27s for 11 frames for the 30D's smaller RAW files. Continuous mode has improved from 5 fps to over 6 fps with similar buffer depths. As with shutter lag, Live View mode has little impact on cycle times, though it does affect buffer clearing times. Flash recycling after a full power shot is quite fast at 2.9 seconds, slightly faster than the 30D's 3.0 seconds

Download speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

3,102 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-770=USB 2.0 Low;
More than 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds are also very fast, so you won't feel the need for a separate card reader.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery

Excellent battery life for a lithium-ion design, as long as Live View is used sparingly.

Test Conditions

Number of Shots

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, no flash

1100

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery,
50% flash (CIPA standard)

800

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery,
Live View

170

The Canon EOS 40D uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. Though runtime is excellent, we do recommend picking up a spare battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand, especially if using Live View mode.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

The Canon EOS 40D stores its photos on CompactFlash memory cards, and no card is included with the camera. The chart below shows how many images can be stored on a 512MB card at each size/quality setting.

Image Capacity vs
Resolution/Quality512MB Memory Card

Fine

Normal

RAW

3,888 x 2,592

Images
(Avg size)

895.8 MB

1852.8 MB

29
17.7 MB

Approx.
Compression

5:1

11:1

1:1

2,816 x 1,880

Images
(Avg size)

1603.2 MB

3371.5 MB

-

Approx.
Compression

5:1

11:1

-

1,936 x 1,288

Images
(Avg size)

2861.8 MB

633
809 KB

55
9.3 MB

Approx.
Compression

4:1

9:1

0.5:1

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity CompactFlash memory card. At least a 2GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)